ineptitude
Americannoun
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quality or condition of being inept.
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an inept act or remark.
Etymology
Origin of ineptitude
First recorded in 1605–15; from Latin ineptitūdō; inept, -i-, -tude
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Sonny finds himself tripping over his ineptitude and tangled up in conflicting sympathies—he’s almost as anxious as his hostages, whom he treats with an apologetic kindliness, almost like a party crasher who’s broken a vase.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 31, 2026
Thirteen months on, resentment towards city and county authorities continues to bubble, with persistent claims of mismanagement and ineptitude.
From Barron's • Feb. 12, 2026
On a day to rival any of England's ineptitude from the previous seven weeks, both Head and Smith were dropped in a calamitous opening session in Sydney.
From BBC • Jan. 6, 2026
So much of Calloway’s persona rested on her brilliant ideas tempered by charming ineptitude, her devil-may-care approach to her own fame.
From Los Angeles Times • Sep. 26, 2025
As if to rub in my ineptitude, Otto handily pulled away a shoot and munched away.
From "Endangered" by Eliot Schrefer
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
